From Green Beret to NFL to Hollywood -- Nate Boyer's Story

Hey everybody, and thank you for tuning in to this installment of Return to Base. I'm your host Cliff. Today's guest is somebody who I'm very excited about. Somebody who has an absolutely amazing story. I actually had a chance to serve with him a long, long time ago in Afghanistan and very excited to announce today's guest is Nate Boyer. Nate Boyer is in addition to being a Green Beret and Veteran, he was a walk-on long snapper at the University of Texas. And from there, he actually signed as an undrafted free agent by the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. I got to pause there. This is something pretty incredible. Think about this. He was a Green Beret first, and then went off to college to the University of Texas. Walked on, by the way, as a long snapper at the University of Texas, having never played a single down of organized football ever. Not in Pop Warner, not in high school. Shows up at a division one school with the audacity to say, Hey, I want to make this team. And he did. Rest is history. In addition to that, he's been a fisherman part of his life. He's been an actor. He is an actor, actually. He's an actor, producer, director, a philanthropist. He co-founded an organization called Merging Vets and Players. Something that we'll get a chance to talk to him about, I'm sure. And above all else, he's just a really good human being, a really good American. And we're proud to have him on this episode of Return to Base. So stay tuned. And if you hadn't already, go ahead and click that subscribe button to get more content like this. So stay tuned. Here we go. Bravo Zulu, this is Victor Lima. We are RTB. This is Return to Base, a Veteran Life podcast. All right. Got a good guest today. Nate Boyer, former Green Beret, NFL, undrafted free agent in 2015 by the Seattle Seahawks. How's it going, Nate? It's pretty good. How are you doing? Doing pretty good. Thanks. Thanks for asking. We got lots of cover. Obviously, you've had an interesting life. Some might say you're a bit of a Renaissance man. I kind of liken it a little bit to Forrest Gump. No offense. You know, just kind of running around doing everything, man. Kind of in the pop culture, if you will, or doing a little bit of everything in this century here, right? Yeah. I don't know about everything, but I'm trying to do the things that I'm into or at least attempt them. Yeah. I'll tell you what, you've done more than most people. That's for sure. If I look at your resume, we brought it up during the intro, but obviously you have a very impressive resume and one can probably say that you've lived a pretty full life. How do you feel about that? I think it's a matter of perspective. It's like the only life you really understand is your own. For me, it feels kind of normal. I don't know about of course, but it feels like I haven't done that much or I put maybe too much time into things that I don't really care about and wish I would have put more time into other things. But I think that's probably standard with everybody. I bet everybody's got those type of, I don't want to say regrets, but regrets. You know what I mean? Yeah. I know what you mean. You mentioned something that I always like to tell people when committing to things is time is my only resource I can't really renew. So I'm pretty protective of my time and I know you're protective of your time. And so I do appreciate you taking the time to talk to us, but your point there being that the time that you have had to spend on this world, you maybe could have did some things a little bit differently. Is that what you're saying? Yeah. I often feel like that I just wasted a bit of time doing something that wasn't really set on more earlier in life. It's probably because I didn't really know what I wanted to do. But at the same time, I have to understand that because I spun my wheels for a bit, I think it got me to a place of frustration and asking a lot of questions. And that's probably what spurred the action that was taken after that. So it's one of those things like it's a catch 22, I think. But it's hard to always recognize it. I'm 40 years old now. It's like as life keeps going, you're like, ah, man, I never did that thing. And I'm not, I wish I was doing this thing right now. And I'm also not slowing down and enjoying my life at all. I mean, it's like, they're definitely first world problems, like all those things. Well, you would know, right? So for those listening who don't know, I mean, you visited the third world and obviously during combat, but also before your time in the military. Yeah. Yeah. In 2004, it was my first time going to a place like that. I went to the Darfur along the border of Chad and Sudan. What led you to do that? Well, honestly, it was a Time Magazine article. I was 23 years old at the time. 9-11 happened when I was 19, 20. 9-11 happened when I was 20. And I thought about joining the military at the time, but it just didn't quite feel right. I didn't know what I would do exactly. And I just, I guess, I mean, none of us were aware that this was going to be a long war, not to mention a 20-year war. I remember thinking about it when I was younger. I was like, well, I'd only really probably join the military if we were at war, something pretty big, pretty involved. And so I didn't do that. But I did a lot of other things when I talk about the wasting of time, where I just felt like... 18 to 23, what were you up to, man? Come on. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Not going to college, I'll tell you that much. But yeah. And so I remember just reading this article and it was like, just hit me, the images. They just struck me in a certain way. And I was like, man, I got to go over there and help. And it was like, I mean, the title of the Time Magazine article was The Tragedy in Sudan. And it was, yeah, it was just these people that are in the midst of a genocide. 300,000 people had been killed by the time I read that article. And it was mostly women and children that were sort of left abandoned and ended up in refugee camps. And they were understaffed and they just needed help, they needed people. And so I just made the decision, even though I was not qualified at all. No, I actually didn't. I couldn't go with any organization. They wouldn't let me because I didn't have a college degree and I didn't have any special skills or anything. So I just flew myself over there and figured it out when I got there. Yeah, it was really stupid. But you just show up in Sudan and I imagine you went to maybe the rental car place or somewhere. Hey, point me to where all the bad stuff is happening. Yeah, I picked up a Ford Focus at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, there was, you know, not a lot of English spoken. Right. In the capital, Jemena is the name of the capital, Chad, is where I flew into. That's about the only place you could fly into anywhere near the Darfur. And I talked my way onto a UN flight, kind of BS my way on this little UNHCR, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, a little prop plane. They had an extra, an open seat. I just kind of BS my way on it and flew across the Sahara to the Darfur. And once I got there, I talked my way into a volunteer opportunity. I mean, I wasn't asking for anything, including food or being put up. You know, I was like, I just want to help. And so I ended up sleeping. You know, I kind of slept how the refugees slept. I just slept on the ground, you know, under a not even really under a tent, like this back of this like extended compound. Um, but I, I, I assisted every day with, you know, in the medical centers, I played soccer with the kids, I helped build some of the, you know, the campsites and stuff like that. Was just a grunt, as far as the refugee camp world goes. And, and, but it just, you know, completely changed my life and perspective on things. And, um, it really made me, um, my, my patriotism was sort of, so many people were just enamored with America. They just wanted to talk about America and hear about my stories. And like, why would I, you know, why would I leave that to come over here and help? And, um, and, uh, I, I just made the decision when I was there that I was going to join the military. So, um, did you become an 18 Delta? Is that right? A special forces medical? Sorry. Echo echo. I didn't sign up for that. I wanted to be an engineer. I wanted to be at Charlie, but I think echo is what they gave me because they, they needed echoes at the time. I scored pretty well in some of the, um, some of the tests, you know, I guess that that wouldn't qualify me better as an echo, which is a combo guy for those that don't know, but it wasn't super into it. And I didn't know anything about it. I didn't even have an email address when I joined the military. So it was all, it was all very new to me. So you're in Darfur and you're thinking, did you, I mean, did you run into some special forces guys in Africa? And no, there was no, there was no American military anywhere near where I was at all. There was, they had, uh, some like UN soldiers, but, uh, maybe French foreign legion was there as well, but not, uh, no, no, no American. Well, I don't want to say no, none that I saw somewhere. No, I didn't. I, you know, I, I, uh, I didn't even know what I was going to do exactly coming back. I just knew it had to be something like that. Like as these people, I just felt like we're worth fighting for. And I got malaria the last week I was there. Oh, good. Yeah. So super fun. Uh, but the, uh, the family that put me up and like took care of me, they put a little radio in that room. I was staying, um, it, uh, the only station that came on the radio was the BBC and like the second battle of Fallujah was happening at that time. Right. Um, I think that's November, October or November of 2004, I think November. And, uh, and I'm like listening to the play by play of these guys, mostly Marines going in and, um, you know, risking their lives and fighting for these people. And, uh, I just thought, man, that's, that's what I'm going to do next. I'm going to join the military. So I came home, went to the Marine Marine Corps recruiting office. Didn't get a great vibe from that. Also like, wasn't sure if that made sense. That was the right fit. And then I came across this other Mark magazine article that talked about the X 18 X-ray programs. Um, I think it was also a time magazine, honestly. Uh, but it was, yeah, I was like getting my oil change at a, at a, you know, a dealership and just very like kind of sitting there in the dealership, which is, I remember it pretty clear, probably because that's where I read that article. But I just remember being like, Oh, I come back to the, back to the real world. You know, the hum of the, the hum of the lights inside of the empty waiting room. And, uh, I, I like reading about how you could come in off the street and sounds like you were just drawn at that point to, to service. You knew you had to serve. It sounds like, and you had this inclination spurred on by maybe a re renewed patriotism as to how the rest of the world sees the United States of America. Is that accurate? Yeah, I think so. I mean, like I was proud of a lot of the, like, honestly, after nine 11, I just remember, you know, nine 12, like, and I lived in LA at the time and it was like, people were marching in the streets, like parading, you know, dressed as uncle Sam and stuff like that. And it was just like kind of something we don't, you know, it almost be, if we saw that today, people would freak out. It was like a extremist group. Isn't that wild when you think about that? It's very wild. It's very wild. But it was, you know, it was just like, you know, we were very united. I came, I really came together. And then I remember, you know, like, like, like George Bush throwing the first pitch out of the, at the world series, you know, in the, in the, I guess it was in Yankee stadium. And it's just like all those kinds of things. It's like, dang, this is crazy. You know, this is, this is like, really proud of this. Like, I don't know. I was just interested. Yeah. I was after nine 11 or during nine 11, actually, I was, I was stationed in Germany at the time. So it was an interesting feeling. Germans were leaving flowers at our base, which was far from any type of danger. And I remember that speech he gave George W. Bush at the a ground zero where those firemen said, Hey, we can't hear you. And then of course he said, I can hear you. And, and pretty soon the people who knocked down these buildings are going to hear from all of us. That was like, yeah, that was a real problem. And then of course, you know, I know you're a big baseball fan. So my, so that whole first pitch, I'm sure you've seen the 30 for 30 about it. I think it's a 30 for 30 about the first pitch where Jeter says, don't bounce it. Yeah, exactly. They always say that I got to throw a first pitch out of a, it was a spring training game for the, for the Marin for the Mariners. But yeah, same thing. They were like all the main thing. They're like, aim high. So like, if you miss high and the catcher has to come up like no big deal, just don't bounce it. You know? So I was like staring at the top of the catcher's mask and I was like, all right, if I miss, if I, if I don't over his head, that's fine. I'm just from the rubber. Oh yeah. Nice. You gotta do it. Oh dude. I did the full wind up. I threw it as hard as I could. I mean, it probably went like 65 miles an hour, but like, you know, dead through it as hard as I could. I was, I wasn't messing around. So, so you become a green beret and for the, for the listeners, Nate and I actually served together in, in Afghanistan and I don't know, I guess it has to be 2013 or 14, 13, 2013. And didn't get to know each other too well. I was kind of all over the place as were you doing different things. I would, by the way, I was at 18 Echo as well. Oh, nice. Before, before I got promoted to, yay. But, you know, that experience, what did you think about your time in Afghanistan? That wasn't your only time in Afghanistan, correct? No, I went to, well, actually I just went to Afghanistan that year and I went the next year, I was at Camp Moorhead with third group and got attached to an ODA. But I was in Iraq before that when I was in 10th group on active duty. Yeah. Both places, special place in my heart for both. Big shout out to Iraq. I spent a lot of time in Iraq. Whereabouts in Iraq and, and how did you find those, those trips while working on an ODA and, and just those deployments, especially knowing now that Afghanistan's done and Iraq is kind of, you know, always in a state of mess. Yeah. Yeah. It's tough to see, man. I mean, I was in, in Iraq, I was, we operated mostly out of Najaf. That's where our team was, which is south of Baghdad. It's right where the Tigris and Euphrates sort of converge and it's near, you know, Babel or as we know, it's Babylon, you know, and Najaf was the Shiite holy city, which has the biggest cemetery in the world. So it's like a lot of religious significance for, honestly, for all religions or all main ones, major ones, I should say, Judaism, Abrahamic, Christianity and, and yeah, exactly. And, and Islam, but yeah, Father Abraham's buried there and many, many others, probably millions of others. That is a huge cemetery. It's enormous. To think of the, the battles that went on in that cemetery in early or late 2000s. There was a big one in 07 right before we got there with the Marines. I think four Marines were killed. And yeah, our ODA, we never got in a firefight at the cemetery, but I just remember, I mean, we spent a lot of time around there, but it was just, it was, it was very bizarre. I mean, you see something like that because Najaf, it's a city, but it's nothing like a city in North America or the West generally. It's just very desolate. It's very, I mean, you're in the desert and even that sort of downtown, you know, everything's sort of sand colored, all the, all the buildings are dusty. There's a lot of like windstorms and it's not like, so a lot of Iraq is very different. In some ways it was almost like more like Southern Afghanistan, you know, the topography and everything. So, uh, but it was, and it was like, we were very far from everyone else. I mean, there was a nearby like sort of supply base, but we were far from the flagpole. Um, I don't know the closest ODA to us was in Hilla, which I think that was at least an hour drive. If not more, I can't remember. What year was that? This is in 2008, 2009. Oh yeah. I, um, 2009, I was out east at Kut. Oh yeah. In 2010. Right. Um, yeah, same like Baghdad, big city, still on the outskirts, sandcastles, Najaf, even worse. I mean, you can just see across, there's no real big buildings. But yeah, the, and then, then Afghanistan, obviously you, it sounds like you, you been a fair amount of places in Afghanistan and, and it's weird to see kind of, I don't know, you can say our legacy or our generation's legacy kind of in question in some ways, uh, with, especially with Afghanistan falling the way it did. And then obviously Iraq had, uh, the ISIS uprising and stuff. Um, right. Yeah, no, it's sad. You know, it's, it's, it's frustrating, but it's not really an easy answer there. So, uh, you know, I, I, yeah. Those folks have been at war a long time, man. I don't know if we thought we could change that. Um, but for, for all the people that are on the ground, the families and children, that's the worst part. It's like, there's, that's what people don't quite understand. I think you can't really do there, but I mean, I guess you can at some level, but just, I think people just don't believe it. The amount, the amount of oppression that exists over there and like how women and children are treated. Um, and you know, just that, um, the class system, um, you know, obviously things are not perfect here in the States, things are not completely equal for everybody, but like, it's just a completely different level of that. And, uh, it's quite a perspective when you look at it. Um, and I mean, I, I did several deployments to Iraq and just one to Afghanistan, but, um, more or less people are people everywhere where there's just folks. A lot of times trying to get by sometimes even the people whose houses I've been into, you realize this is just a guy trying to provide for his family. Right. Um, and put, put yourself in that same situation. You might do the same thing. Who knows? Exactly. But you know, one thing that really tripped me out was the, um, families seem to sleep in the first room of a house during, um, like, I guess the fall and we would always come in to, you know, bad guy's house and just so afraid that I was going to step on a baby's arm or something like that. And you know, that, yeah, I'm, I'm there to do a job. And I was also always concerned that, Oh man, I don't want to step on a kid's foot or something, some babies sleeping and wake them up. But, um, so when, when we served together, uh, I remember somebody telling me, Hey, you should go talk to Nate, man. He's got an interesting story. Uh, and then found out of course that you, you know, on your, on your free time, you were a long snapper for the Texas Longhorns. Yeah, I know. I mean, that, that's crazy thing. No, you got it backwards. My free time, I was in the national guard, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Um, now, I mean, that is such a strange turn of events where you were in the, in the Darfur before that you worked on a fishing boat, decided to join the army, decided to go into the national guard. And then I don't know, on a whim, you were like, you know what? I bet I can, I bet I can snap this football 20 yards. Well, I, I, uh, growing up, I was always just a huge football fan. And, um, when I was, you know, a little kid, I played soccer and baseball and basketball. And then, uh, when I became interested in playing football at first, you know, my mom wasn't thrilled about it just because it's, you know, I mean, it's a violent sport. And I was pretty young when I first sort of into it. And so she, you know, she sort of steered me away from it. And, um, and then I just got so hooked on, especially baseball and basketball. I was like, really into it. Um, and then by the time I got to high school, it was like, man, you gotta, I gotta focus on these sports. If I want to, you know, if I want a chance to start and play, like I can't, I can't, I'm not a good enough athlete to just play force for sports or whatever in high school. So I, uh, never played and it like kind of bothered me. It was like a regret I had for my whole life until I was 29. I had to go back to college. Yeah. Yeah. So I was, I was actually finishing up a deployment that deployment in Iraq in 09, I was 28 at the time then. And I kind of just made the decision that I wasn't going to reenlist and active duty on active duty. I was a year out, you know? And so I was up for the realist. I said, no, I'm not, I'm just going to go to college and, and, uh, uh, you know, go try to play football and ended up going to UT. And, um, I, I, by after my first semester there, I, I reenlisted into the national guard cause I wanted to, I wanted to keep serving and, you know, that first summer I had at school, I was bored to tears and I was like, man, I need, I need to do something over the summer here. So, um, and, uh, yeah, so I, I, I walked on as a safety and, uh, I was on, I made the team and I was on the scout team and I was dressed for home games and, you know, got to run down on kickoff coverage during the veteran's day game and all that stuff. But it was like, I want to play like meaningful snaps. I want to find a way on the field. Um, what's something that I can learn that sort of a specialized skill that it doesn't necessarily, I don't necessarily have to play football my whole life, you know, and, and long snapping kind of made the most sense. I mean, um, it's a thankless job and, you know, it's, it's like shooting a free throw in the sense of it's the same every time kind of skill like that, but it's not easy. I mean, you're hiking a ball through your legs, 15 yards. It's got to be on a line, you know, a spiral and very accurate. Yeah. Then you're about to get hit as soon as you do it. Exactly. It's, and if you talk about it recently for like 20 minutes, well, some reporter asks, Hey, do you think we need to, uh, you think you guys need a long snapper on, on the Patriots or can you do without? And he went into like a 15 minute explanation and history of the long snapper. Uh, it was, that's a very, that's a very dumb question by the media there. The media is not all that bright. I mean, every, every NFL team has one, they have no backup, but they have one long snapper and that's all that person does punts, field goals, extra points. Um, and they don't play anything else. They're not, they're not like, you know, but usually the backup for the long snapper in case he gets hurt is like, uh, you know, a reserve tight end or a linebacker or something like that. But yeah, it's just a, that's what that is. And so what was that like? Like you're lined up against, I don't know, 250, 300 pound pound mountain of man ready to hit you in your face as soon as you lose that ball. Right. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely nerve wracking. Uh, but it's also